


good and faithful friends

by LiveLaughLovex



Series: dare to dance [9]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Post-Episode: s10e08 Ne'e Aku Ne'e Mai Ke One O Punahoa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-16
Updated: 2019-11-16
Packaged: 2021-01-31 16:03:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21448915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiveLaughLovex/pseuds/LiveLaughLovex
Summary: She showed up on McGarrett's front stoop at eleven o'clock that night after everything went down with the DEA agent.(Post-Episode for s10e08. Kono and Steve discuss grief and blame.)
Relationships: Kono Kalakaua & Steve McGarrett
Series: dare to dance [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1507634
Kudos: 8





	good and faithful friends

**Author's Note:**

> The title comes from an Irish proverb, which, to be honest, I just liked. It seemed to fit with the general theme, though, so I went with it.

“Hi,” Kono greeted cheerfully, flashing a sunny smile as the door fully opened to reveal Steve standing on the other side. “Sorry to stop by so late, but I figured you’d still be up; thought you might be hungry.” She held up the bag of takeout in her left hand. “Grabbed some stuff from that Thai place we found a few summers back.”

“Hey,” Steve replied confusedly, staring at her curiously for a moment before stepping aside so she could come inside. “Weren’t you working late tonight?”

“Well, it’s almost eleven, McGarrett,” Kono pointed out, making her way to the kitchen. She grabbed two plates from a nearby cabinet, then began the process of divvying up the food. It didn’t take long for her to do so, and she slid a plate across to him when she was done. “I just wanted to check on you. You didn’t take much time off, after… well, everything.”

Steve scoffed humorlessly. “Being alone with my thoughts wasn’t exactly helping with the coping process. Work might not have made it better, but it at least distracts me, you know?”

“I get that,” Kono murmured, accepting the beer he extended in her direction and popping off the lid. She took a small sip before continuing. “But if you ever need to talk…”

“I’m fine,” he replied defensively. “Just… working some things out, that’s all.” 

Kono nodded, reminding herself of all her friend had been through in the past few weeks and refusing to let herself react angrily, as well. “You don’t have to work it out on your own, you know. You never let us work _anything _out on our own.”

“That’s different,” Steve muttered, setting his own beer bottle on the counter in front of him.

Kono arched a brow. “Why? Because you’re our leader, or because you’re a big, bad Navy SEAL who can’t be seen depending on anyone else?” she questioned wryly.

“Because I don’t know _how_ to talk about it,” Steve admitted tiredly, dropping his fork onto his plate and leaning forward slightly in his chair. “Not yet. I don’t know how to deal with it. I was so angry at her for the past seven years, and in those last moments… I was still angry.” He shrugged helplessly. “And now she’s gone.” 

“Yeah,” Kono agreed quietly. “She is. And ignoring that, focusing only on your anger – it’s not going to help. Neither is blaming yourself,” she added knowingly. “Quinn told me about the DEA agent.”

“Blaming myself for that makes sense,” Steve argued pointedly.

“He had an entire agency backing him, Steve. If they weren’t able to figure it out in all the years he worked for them, then no, it doesn’t actually make sense for you to blame yourself for not being able to see straight through him the first day you met.” Kono sighed when her friend remained unconvinced. “You’re going to figure things out, McGarrett,” she said with certainty. “You’ll talk to Bishop, and he’ll clear things up, and you’ll figure out what Cullen was involved with. It’ll work itself out.”

“Bishop’s dead,” Steve told her grimly, finishing off half his beverage in one drink. “He was murdered in his hospital bed earlier tonight. Homicide’s dealing with it overnight, but…”

“It’ll be yours first thing in the morning,” Kono finished. “If you need any help…”

“You’ll be my first call,” he assured her. “And… thank you,” he added a moment later. “For stopping by. I know I’m not the best company right now.”

“Eh. Who else am I going to share cheap Thai food and cheaper beer with?” Kono returned with a slight smirk that transformed into a genuine smile when he chuckled. “No, seriously, everyone else warns me about the health risks every time I bring this stuff anywhere near them. They won’t touch it.”

“Well, then they don’t know what they’re missing,” Steve replied, polishing off the last bit of food on his plate.

“That’s what I always try to tell them,” Kono sighed amusedly. “Now,” she said, pointing her fork in his direction, “what’s this I hear about Grover hanging with Metta World Peace and not inviting any of us?”

It wasn’t enough to fix Steve. But friendship was a better way of forgetting everything that was wrong than work. And, if offering her friendship was the only thing she could do to help him until he was ready to talk about it – well, Kono was going to be the best friend she could possibly be.


End file.
